Vimmerby Kommun

The home of the Astrid Lindgren stories

Vimmerby Kommun is a municipality in the north-east of Småland, which is particularly known as the home of the famous children's book author Astrid Lindgren. The municipality stretches over the forested area of the east coast province Kalmar Län.

In the western part of Vimmerby Kommun, the terrain is slightly hilly and passes into the Småland highlands – eastwards towards the coast, the terrain gradually becomes flatter. The region is quite densely wooded and has almost 350 lakes. The largest lake in the municipal area is the 15 square kilometer-wide Yxern, which is also part of the neighboring municipality Västervik.

The tourist center of the region is the main town of the municipality, the small city Vimmerby. The hometown of Astrid Lindgren is one of the oldest cities in Småland and has a cozy medieval town center with picturesque wooden houses. The theme park Astrid Lindgrens Värld on the northwestern outskirts and the museum Astrid Lindgrens Näs are the biggest attractions in the area.

Nearby, the national park Norra Kvill attracts to discover a real småland primeval forest and only a few kilometers away you can test your strength with the Runkesten, one of the world's largest rocking stone.

Apart from the area around the main town of Vimmerby, with a population of about 8,000 residents, the region is relatively sparsely populated with less than 14 inhabitants per square kilometer. There are no other major towns, but the nearest villages are Södra Vi and Storebro, each with about 1,000 residents followed by Gullringen with a population of 500 people and Frödinge and Tuna with about 350 and 200 inhabitants.